Exterior step system made from masonry units attached via a metal frame

ABSTRACT

A step system made up of masonry panels of various sizes pre-formed to resemble natural stone or brick on the outside. These panels have bolts or other securing devices embedded in them at precise locations at the time of their manufacture. These securing devises allow them to be attached together to form the sides and front of a set of steps. They are attached via a metal frame that is also of differing sizes and made with holes at precise locations to accept the bolts of the masonry pieces. When assembled, as directed, the structure has areas where large slabs of natural stone treads can be rested and attached at differing distances and heights from the ground forming a set of steps.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Staircases or a set of steps are used to walk from one elevationto another elevation. While steps have been around for so long that noone can say for sure about the first set of steps, one can only imaginethat the first set of steps were probable stones stacked upon oneanother. As time went on, ways to attach the stones more permanently toone another were developed. Even before the invention of modern cement,evidence exists that ancient civilizations used certain materials to“mortar” stones together to form a set of steps. Even before blades wereused to cut trees into lumber, logs were shaped into flat steps andattached to make a staircase. Not long after iron and steel weredeveloped, they too were soon used to fabricate a set of steps.

[0002] Whatever the method used by the ancient civilizations, the methodof constructing a staircase was always the same. They would gather theraw materials they were going to use and take them to the site wherethey were going to use them then they would fabricate the staircaseusing one piece at a time. This method is the most commonly used methodstill to this day. It usually involves bringing boards, cutting them andnailing them together or using masonry blocks, or stone, or bricks andmortaring them together. Another commonly used method today involvesforming a staircase out of wood or like material and pouring concrete totake the shape of a staircase.

[0003] While a set of steps fabricated in these ways can be verybeautiful and elaborate, they can also be very expensive. To make a setof steps in stone or brick is beyond the know-how of the typicalhomeowner and a professional mason has to be hired. Also because stepsdone in this fashion are stone or bricks cemented together into onelarge piece, these types set of steps has to be placed on a footing. Ifa footing were not used, any settling or shifting would cause this onelarge piece to crack.

[0004] To custom build a set of steps one piece at a time is not theonly way to build a set of steps however, “prefabricated” steps areknown in the art. “Prefabricated” staircases are built in a factory orsome other location and then taken to a site where they are typicallyattached to the upper and lower elevations. Interior wooden staircasesare the most common of these and are widely used today. Exteriorstaircases made of pressure treated lumber are also used. Prefabricatedsteel steps are commonly used for fire escapes and the like. U.S. Pat.No. 4,438,608, U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,320, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,504 aretypes of these. While prefabricated interior staircase can be verydecorative and elaborate, most types of these materials can't stand upto the elements when used in the exterior.

[0005] One type of prefabricated steps that can stand up to the elementsis a prefabricated concrete unit. The problem with this is that they aremake of solid concrete and have to be set in place by a mechanical liftof some sort. Making it impractical for installation in some locations.

[0006] One way to solve the problems that large and heavy prefabricatedunits present is by developing pre-made parts specifically designed foruse as a stair or staircase. Most people can assemble stair parts likethese without costly professional help. While precut parts used to makea set of steps can be purchased at any local home building materialsstore, most are out of lumber or metal not out of masonry that can belong lasting when used in the exterior.

[0007] There are methods using some sort of block that is stacked oneupon another, known in the art. Some have means of interlocking and caneven be assembled without “mortaring” the blocks together. In U.S. Pat.No. 6,295,772, U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,049 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,746 areexamples of types of masonry block that are used almost exclusively formaking steps.

[0008] Recently steps have been make using split faced masonry block,U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,320 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,049 are examples ofthese blocks and can be glued together with a masonry adhesive to form aset of steps. This method allows the staircase to “give”, therebypreventing cracking. The appearance of this type of staircase is limitedbecause of the way these blocks are manufactured. Also, any method usedto build a set of steps out of blocks stacked one upon another requiresthe use of many blocks, not only on the outside and front face but alsothe totality of the inside from the ground up to the top and from sideto side.

[0009] It has been known for some time in the art to build masonry stepsfor outdoor use using materials other than stacked blocks. U.S. Pat. No.5,014,475, U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,935, U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,347, U.S. Pat.No. 4,250,672, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,154 all have masonry pieces thatdon't require the total area under the step treads to be built up. Allthese methods use a stringer type design for the risers. The troublewith a stringer design is a different sized stringer would be used forstaircases with different numbers of steps. This would present a problemto supply stores that would have to carry inventories for one stepunits, different stringers for two step units, and so on.

[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 1,879,996, U.S. Pat. No. 2,697,931, U.S. Pat. No.2,722,823, U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,639, U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,170 all havesolid side pieces not stringers, that serve as risers. While thesestaircase systems also don't require the total area under the step treadto be built up, they have the same problem in that supply houses wouldhave to carry different side ieces for each set of differing numbers ofsteps. These large inventories are very costly and inconvenient.

[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 2,374,905 has masonry pieces stacked upon oneanother not solid side pieces. But this system talks of poured concretekey-ways, thereby presenting the same problem of cracking that any solidmasonry staircase would present.

[0012] It would therefore be a significant advance of the art to providea staircase or set of steps made out of long lasting masonry pieceswhich could take on the appearance of natural stone or brick. And whichcould be easily assembled using just nuts and bolts, without having topour footings or “cement” these pieces together. It would also be anadvance in the art if these masonry pieces could be easy to handle andassembled in such a way as to use as few pieces as possible in theconstruction of the staircase. It would be a further advance in the artto develop a system to produce exterior staircases that could be used tobuild steps of differing numbers of steps and steps of differing widthsusing interchangeable parts. And at the same time being able toinventory only small amounts of system pieces to do this.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention is generally directed to an exteriorstaircase or set of steps made from pre-manufactured masonry and steelpieces. These pieces can be easily assembled to produce a long lastingset of steps.

[0014] In particular one object of the invention is to use pieces thatare light enough to be handled by hand and can be connected together onsite.

[0015] Another object is to use decorative, preformed in molds,manufactured pieces. These pieces would be pre-sized and fined to gotogether in such a way as to form a set of steps.

[0016] Another object of the present invention is to put these piecestogether so they are not cemented together.

[0017] Another object is to use specific pieces for specific parts ofthe step. I.e. the sides of a 3-step unit will have 3 courses for eachside. While the pieces that form these courses are interchangeable fromleft side to right side, they are different sizes for each differentstep. The bottom course being a masonry piece or multiple pieces thatare longer than the course above it and the one above that being shorterstill.

[0018] Another object is to use side pieces that can be used on eitherthe right side or the left side risers, and use the same front piecesfor the first step, second step, third step and so on. The front piecesare interchangeable with other front pieces of the same width step, butnot interchangeable with other steps of different widths or any sidepieces.

[0019] Another object is to use different front pieces (longer orshorter), attached to the same side pieces, in order to constructdifferent widths of steps.

[0020] Another object is to use masonry pieces for the bottom step thatare a different height than the ones used for the remaining steps.

[0021] Another object is to use masonry pieces that are formed withembedded bolts or other securing devices, so they can be attached.

[0022] Another object of the invention is to use a rigid frame that canact as the securing device for the masonry units. And to have this frameconstructed in such a way as to allow for all courses of the side risersto be stacked one upon another and connected to each other, while at thesame time allowing multiple pieces to be used for each course, ifnecessary.

[0023] Also, another object of the invention is to have this frame ableto connect the right side risers to he left side risers and both sidesto the front riser pieces.

[0024] Another object is to allow for limestone or other natural stonetreads to be placed and secured into the unit and act as the actualstep.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a three-step unit of the presentinvention showing the masonry side and front pieces as well as thetreads.

[0026]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a top left riser side and atop right riser side of a step unit.

[0027]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a left front riser and aright front riser of a step unit.

[0028]FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mold that a side riserpiece is formed in.

[0029]FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the metal frame parts of athree-step unit.

[0030]FIG. 6 is a side plane view showing the metal frames, front riserpieces, and stone treads of a three-step unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0031] In FIG. 1, masonry pieces are different sizes. Top left riser 1rests on top of left middle riser 2, which rests on the top of leftbottom riser 3. The bottom of left bottom riser 3 rests on the ground.Riser 3 is of a different height than riser 2 & riser 1. According tomost building codes, typically a step is 7½″-8″ high. From the ground,the top of the first step should be 7½″. The stone slabs are commonlyused in other step applications and are typically 2″ in thickness. Thestone slab 13 rests on top of left bottom riser 3 and right bottom riser4. Since the slap is already 2″, the height of the bottom pieces 3 and 4should be 5½″ to bring the height of the bottom step to 7½″. The secondstone slab 14 is the second step. The second stone slab 14 rests on thetop of left middle riser 2 and right middle riser 5. The height distancefrom stone slabs 13 to the stone slab 14 should be 7½″. Side riser 2rests on top of side 3, but the bottom of side 2 is the thickness ofstone slab 13 or 2″ lower than the top of the first step 13. Therefore,to get the 7½″ step height the height of side 2 is 7½″. The height fromstone slab 14 to stone slab 13 is 7½″. Side 1 rests on top of side 2.The bottom of side 1 is 2″ lower than the bottom of the second step.Therefore, the height of the side 1 is 7½″. With the stone slabs restingon the tops of the side pieces and the next ascending side piecesresting on the side piece below it, any side piece after the first stepwill be 7½″ high. This will follow from step 2 to step 3 to step 4 andbeyond. The bottom sidepiece will always be 5½″ in height.

[0032] Top left riser 1 is a certain width, in this instance x. Thewidth x of side riser 2 is twice that of side riser 1 and that is 2×.The width of side riser 3 is three times the width of side riser 1 andthat is 3×. Increasing numbers of steps have lengths that have similarincreasing multiples of side riser 1.

[0033]FIG. 2 shows both left top riser 1 and right top riser 4. Bothpieces have six sides and are the same dimensions. The bolts 54 are inthe middle, from top to bottom, of side riser 1. Decorative face 33 isthe outside side of riser land used on the outside of the steps. Topface 18 is the top of riser 1. When left riser 1 is flipped end for endit is now in the same configuration as right riser 4 with the decorativeface 33 being on the outside. The top face 18 is in the bottom sideposition of right riser 4. The bolts 54 are still in the middle from topto bottom of riser 4. All side riser pieces, while having differentdimensions, are configured the same and therefore, interchangeable inthe same position from left side to right side.

[0034] In FIG. 1, front riser 8 rests between treads 13 and 14 and ontop of tread 13. Since treads are typically 2″, the distance between topof tread 13 and bottom of tread 14 is 5½″. Front riser 8 as well as allother front risers are the same height dimension, typically 5½″. Thefront risers could be one long piece but long narrow pieces of concretecan easily break during transport. In FIG. 1, front risers are mosttypically two pieces, left front risers 7, 8, and 9 and right frontrisers 10, 11, and 13 Because these pieces have bolts that are placed inthe middle of the pieces and equal distance from side to side, they canbe flipped end for end and are interchangeable from left side to rightside, the same way that side riser-pieces are interchangeable in FIG. 2.Whether it is the first, second, third or any other step, the length ofthe front riser piece determines the width of the step from side toside. In FIG. 1, the length of the front riser 7 is w. All front risersof the same step unit have risers of equal length. By making the lengthw of riser 7 longer, the step unit's width, from side to side, becomeswider. In FIG. 1, the top face 18 of the front bottom riser 7 is at thesame height elevation as the top face 16 of left side riser 3 and thetop face 23 of right side riser 6. The tops faces of the risers 18, 16and 23 provide and area where slab 13 can rest and be affixed with glueto the risers. The bearing weight is transferred, at this point, fromthe treads to the ground. The top faces of the front risers 19 and 22allow for the stone tread 13 to rest on top and the bearing weight istransferred to the ground for the first step. In FIG. 1, on the nextstep the top face 20 of the front riser 8 allow for the stone tread 14to rest on top of riser 8. This piece then rests on tread 13 below it,which rests on angle bracket 51, which is attached to upright centerbracket 48 which transfers bearing weight to the ground. All bearingweight from the front of the tread is transferred to the ground in thismanner on all subsequent steps.

[0035] All the side pieces and the front pieces have decorative frontfaces. In FIG. 2, the front face 33 is the outer face of the masonryside riser 4. In FIG. 3, front riser 10 is decorative on the front face19 and around the corner at side face 30. Most decorative masonry blocksare split faced as in (U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,320) or in (U.S. Pat. No.5,017,049). These blocks are typically made with dry packed concrete. InFIG. 2, because these masonry pieces have embedded bolts 54 & 55, theyare typically made in molds with wet concrete. Because they are made inwet concrete it allows for greater definition of the decorative face.FIG. 4 shows typical mold used to produce masonry side and front pieces,in this case it is a mold for top side riser 4. Mold 69 is typicallyrubber or like material, which can be shaped to produce differentdecorative front faces. The mold allows for five faces of the masonrypiece to be formed, with the sixth face formed when concrete is pouredinto the top of the mold. Decorative face 33 is on bottom of mold.Masonry riser 4 is shown with embedded bolts 54. These bolts must beembedded at enough of a depth in concrete as to provide for sufficientholding power but must not extend through masonry piece to front face.In FIG. 4, the bolts must also be at precise locations in the wetconcrete. The bolts are typically held at precise locations in the wetconcrete mold by a bracket 70 and bracket stops 71 which corresponds tothe locations of the holes in the steel frame. The bolts 54 must extendout of concrete enough distance to be able to go through pre-drilledholes in metal frame.

[0036]FIG. 5 shows steel frame. Steel is typically used but any metal,aluminum or rigid material will do. Metal must be primed and paintedbecause metal is exposed to the air. Frames 34, 35, 36, and 37 can be ofany rigid material as to allow for distance from side riser pieces 1, 2,and 3 to side riser pieces 4, 5, and 6 to be held constant. As with themasonry pieces, the steel frames are different sizes for differentlocations. In FIG. 5, the shapes of the front frames are mostly thesame, consisting of a cross bracket, a left upright bracket, a rightupright bracket, and a center upright bracket. For frame 36, the crossbracket is 46, the left upright bracket is 39, the right upright bracketis 43, and the center uprightb bracket is 48. Center upright bracket 48also has an angle bracket 51 attached at a 90 degree angle. Frames arethe same length for all steps therefore, the cross brackets of all thesteps will be the same length. For the next step, the left uprightbracket 40, the right upright bracket 44, and the center upright bracket49 are longer in length. As the steps increase, so does the length ofthe upright brackets. Angle bracket 51 is attached at center uprightbracket 49 at a location where it will support the back of the tread.This distance s, down from the top of the cross bracket 46 will be thesame on all subsequent steps and all subsequent cross brackets.

[0037] The frame that goes all he way to the back of the step isdifferent from the other frames. This frame 34 consists of a top crossbracket 52, a bottom cross bracket 53, a left upright bracket 41, aright upright bracket 45, and a center upright bracket 50. FIG. 5 showsback frame always goes to back of step. The back frame pieces could havepre-drilled holes that would allow four steps to be attached to house orother structure. The upright pieces of the frame are able to connect themasonry piece below to any masonry piece above it. In order for theframes to be able to connect the masonry pieces together, they must haveholes to let the bolts that are embedded in the masonry pieces, passthrough. In FIG. 2 the bolt holes 61 and 62 are at precise locations inthe upright frame bracket 40 that corresponds to the location of boltsin masonry riser pieces. These bolts 54 and 55 can pass thru the boltholes 61 and 62 and can be secured with nuts or other means. In FIG. 5,left upright bracket 39 connects masonry riser 3 to masonry riser 2.Upright bracket 40 connects masonry riser 3 to masonry riser 2 andmasonry riser 1. In FIG. 6, this cross bracket 46 is attached to leftupright bracket 39 and right upright bracket 43 at 90 degree angles. InFIG. 6, this cross bracket 46 is attached to upright bracket 43 at apoint below the top of upright bracket 43. The bolt 57 embedded in frontriser 10 is at a distance y, which is the midpoint of the height ofmasonry front riser 10. Therefore, the midpoint of cross bracket 46 isat a distance y down from the top of upright bracket 43. All front crossbrackets are connected to both left and right upright brackets at thisdistance y from the top of their corresponding brackets. This followsfor all steps.

[0038] In FIG. 1, the stone treads 13, 14, and 15 may be of naturalstone or of a manufactured masonry material. The treads must be of thesame thickness so they can be interchangeable and this thickness must beconstant. In FIG. 6, the height on front risers 10, 11, and 12 areconstant, most generally at 5½″. The distance from cross bracket 46 tothe steel angle bracket 51 is constant at s. The height of stone tread13 must be a constant thickness in order to fit under front masonryrisers and on top of angle bracket 51. FIG. 1 shows width of stone tread13. This width corresponds to the length of the top riser face 16 thatit rests on, plus the width of the top face of the front riser 19 plusan overhang. A one inch overhang is most generally used. The exposed topfaces of the risers 2 and 3 are all the same. This distance is x. Thefront riser top edges are all the same thickness. Therefore, the widthof the treads 13, 14, and 15 are all the same. The lengths of the stonetreads are different for each step units of different widths but are thesame for each tread within a given step unit. In FIG. 1 the length ofthe stone tread 13 corresponds to the length w of the front riser piece7 plus the length w of the front riser piece 10. This length of thetread 13 is 2 w. A front riser piece with a longer length w would makefor a corresponding longer stone tread 2 w.

[0039] While the above is the preferred embodiment of the invention,many modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art andthese should be considered within the scope and spirit of the inventionas defined by the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A set of steps or a staircase comprising: (a) a number ofmasonry side pieces stacked one upon another forming the left siderisers of the steps or staircase; (b) a number of masonry side piecesstacked one upon another forming the right side risers of the steps orstaircase; (c) a number of masonry front pieces used to form the frontpart of the risers; (d) a number of metal frame brackets that connectthe masonry left and right side pieces and the front riser pieces; (e) anumber of stone or masonry slabs that form the actual step tread andrest on top of said risers and are attached thereto.
 2. A set of stepsor a staircase according to claim 1, where masonry side pieces arestacked in courses corresponding to each step, the bottom course beingthe longest and the length of the courses, from front to back, areshorter as the steps go up.
 3. A set of steps or a staircase accordingto claim 2, where courses can be of more than one masonry piece.
 4. Aset of steps or a staircase according to claim 1, where masonry sidepieces are stacked in courses and the bottom course is of a differentheight dimension than the higher up courses.
 5. A set of steps or astaircase according to claim 1, where masonry side pieces can beinterchanged from left side of steps to right side of steps and visaversa.
 6. A set of steps or a staircase according to claim 1, wheremasonry front pieces are positioned in courses corresponding to eachstep and each masonry front piece is the same height and lengthdimension as all others used in the same staircase.
 7. A set of steps ora staircase according to claim 1, where tops of left riser, right riser,and front riser of each course are at the same elevation and provide alevel area where slab can be rested upon and affixed.
 8. A set of steps,or a staircase according to claim 1, where masonry side and front risersare formed in decorative molds.
 9. A set of steps, or a staircaseaccording to claim 1, where masonry side and front risers are formedwith fastening devices embedded in each piece.
 10. A set of steps or astaircase according to claim 1, where metal frame has pre-drilled holesset at precise locations that correspond to locations of the embeddedfasteners set in the masonry pieces.
 11. A set of steps, or a staircaseaccording to claim 1, where metal frames have a left upright bracket, aright upright bracket, and a front cross bracket, where left uprightbracket extends from bottom course of left side risers to top course ofleft side risers and attaches all left masonry side riser pieces, andwhere right upright bracket extends from bottom course of right siderisers to top course of right side risers and attaches all right sidemasonry riser pieces, and where front cross bracket extends from leftside of steps to right side of steps and attaches front masonry riserpieces.
 12. A set of steps, or a staircase according to claim 1, whereframe has a center upright piece that extends down from the front crossbracket to the ground and said center upright piece has an attachedflange where masonry slab rests and bearing weight from slab can beshifted to the ground.
 13. A set of steps, or a staircase according toclaim 1, where frame is metal, steel, or other rigid material.
 14. A setof steps, or a staircase according to claim 1, where stone of masonryslabs are of uniform thickness.
 15. A set of steps, or a staircaseaccording to claim 1, where front riser pieces rest on the top of thestone or masonry tread of the step below.
 16. A system of masonry andsteel parts used to construct a set of steps or a staircase, which canmake either steps of differing heights or steps of differing widths byusing either some or all of the interchangeable parts of the system andby putting these parts together in a certain way depending of thedesired height and width of the step, using the following method: (a)Connecting one of more courses of masonry pieces to be used as left andright side risers for the set of steps or staircase. (b) Connecting oneor more pieces of masonry front pieces to be used as front risers forthe set of steps or staircase. (c) Connecting a number of metal or steelpieces to the masonry side risers and front risers so said masonrypieces are in a fixed position in relation to each other. (d) Connectingone or more courses of stone or masonry slabs to the side and frontrisers to form the actual step tread.
 17. A system to build a set ofsteps or staircase according to claim 16, wherein staircases ofincreasing numbers of steps can be made by using more side risercourses, more front riser courses, more stone treads and more metalframes.
 18. A system to build a set of steps or staircase according toclaim 16, wherein staircases of differing widths of steps can be made byusing different front riser pieces, by using different stone treads andby using different metal frames which correspond to the different widthof the step.
 19. A system to build a set of steps or staircase accordingto claim 16, wherein the masonry side and front risers pieces areconnected to the metal frame via bolts that are embedded in the masonrypieces going through holes pre-drilled in metal frames and attached withnuts.
 20. A method of connecting masonry pieces to metal framesaccording to claim 19, wherein embedded material in the masonry piecesis a device that can snap into holes in frames.
 21. A method ofconnecting masonry pieces to metal frames according to claim 19, whereinembedded bolts are at pre-determined locations within the masonrypieces.
 22. A method of connecting masonry pieces to metal framesaccording to claim 19, wherein pre-drilled holes are at pre-determinedlocations on metal frame that corresponds to locations of bolts embeddedin masonry pieces.
 23. A system to build a set of steps or staircaseaccording to claim 16, wherein stone or masonry treads are glued to topsof left, right and front risers.